While Ariel, Disney's "Little Mermaid", dreamed of becoming human, Linden Wolbert had the opposite dream. So after discovering she could maintain a life under the sea, she quit her job and became a real-life Mermaid.
"I have always had a magnetism to water," she told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. "I have always been fascinated with it, not just because of the animals that live in it, but because I feel so comfortable swimming in it. I just was always a swimmer and loved to be in the water."
Wolbert, 32, told Yahoo! she spent most of her time on land fantasizing about the sea.
"I was just daydreaming over every single lunch break about being in the water and among the fish," she said.
Being an avid swimmer, a SCUBA diver and a free diver -- able to descend to 115ft -- she figured she might as well make the switch and quit her 9 to 5 job as a residence director for Emerson College to become a full-time mermaid in 2005.
Wolbert went to special-effects artist Allan Holt for her tail, which is a 5-pound, 6-foot-long hydro-dynamic piece crafted especially for her. The fin is made of high-quality silicone with fiberglass hand-sculpted scales and cost approximately $15,000.
Wolbert's job as a mermaid is pretty much the job of an entertainer. She makes appearances at parties and events where she interacts with guests both in and out of the water. While she's in she can show off her amazing underwater skills which include holding her breath for up to 5 minutes and free-diving 100ft.
She has appeared as "Mermaid Linden" at Hollywood parties for Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake, and Shia LaBeouf and does a lot of pro-bono work for charities, environmental fundraisers and children's parties. Wolbert also produces and stars in her own show, "The Mermaid Minute," where she teaches kids about the ocean.
"I am a geeky science mermaid," she told Yahoo!. "The bread-and-butter stuff is high end and can be really fun and glamorous, but working with children is my favorite."
